Second report of the Federal Government on the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol published

The German Federal Government's second report on the status of implementation of the Nagoya Protocol was published in Bundestag document 19/6495 of the German Bundestag. The Nagoya Protocol is an international environmental agreement that creates a legal framework for access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. It stipulates that benefits arising from the use of genetic resources must be shared fairly and equitably with the countries providing them (so-called Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing, ABS). The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is responsible for its implementation in Germany. As a result, the BfN had to deal with the registration of a collection for the first time in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation No. 511/2014, after the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH submitted the first corresponding application in the EU, which was approved on March 19, 2018. In addition, the European Commission's electronic system for submitting due diligence declarations (DECLARE) was activated in September 2017. Such a declaration of due diligence is required upon receipt of research funding related to the use of genetic resources and can now be submitted via DECLARE. A request to all affected users in Germany to submit due diligence declarations, as required under Article 7(1) of Regulation No. 511/2014, was published in the Federal Gazette on May 9, 2018, in a general order by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation (BfN). Since then, all users who receive research funding for the use of genetic resources within the scope of Regulation No. 511/2014 and/or for the use of traditional knowledge related to such genetic resources must submit a due diligence declaration confirming that users are acting in accordance with the user obligations under Article 4 of Regulation No. 511/2014. The first due diligence declaration was submitted on May 23, 2018, and converted by the BfN into a so-called Checkpoint Communiqué. Through such a communiqué, the user country informs the provider country that genetic resources from the provider country have been used. The Checkpoint Communiqué prepared by the BfN was the first in the world. In addition, the first 32 companies in the cosmetics and personal care, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology sectors were contacted to check whether the companies were using genetic resources within the scope of Regulation No. 511/2014 and whether measures were being taken to ensure compliance with due diligence obligations. The result of these initial written user checks was that the companies had very different levels of knowledge of the requirements of Regulation No. 511/2014. Furthermore, a final decision by the EU Commission on the application for recognition of best practices submitted by the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) is currently pending. The Commission forwarded the proposal to the Member States for comment in March 2018. Should there be any further news regarding the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, we will address the issue again in our newsletter and keep you updated.